I have read a couple of the other posts about hammocks but they didn't answer my question. I want to sleep in a hammock and am wondering if a monkeyhut is going to be enough of a shelter by itself? I'm not so concerned about the dust or anything like that, its just that I use a hammock as my bed and would rather sleep on that then a cot or mattress in a tent. Any opinions/real word experience using your monkeyhut as your only shelter?

The closest I have come to seeing someone do this was camping next to a guy who slept on an army cot under jungle netting for the whole week in 2008--a very stormy year--with his pick-up truck as a windblock. He was a tough nut; a construction worker. Great guy. I never saw him in a mask (sometimes a bandanna, though) I don't know how his lungs or nose fared. He was bald, which meant he looked less ragged than most people would after sleeping with that level of exposure. He also had a contingency plan--a hard canopy on his truck and could've slept inside if necessary (he might've, but I never saw him do it).

If in doubt, calculate the size of your monkey hut, and buy a smaller dome tent and some 10 inch stakes and leave them in their packages. Keep the receipt. Return afterwards when unused. Having a backup plan--whether it's a boxed tent or a covered truck bed--would be smart. A tent helps keep some of the dust out of you. Not all, but probably reduces it by half. That's a guess.

Also, I don't know what kind of hammock you mean, but if it's freestanding, you can put it in a tent, of course. You'd want to take your measurements really carefully and take into account the height at which the walls of the tent start to pitch inward so you'd be sure you could get the hammock in there.

ETA: If you decide to go without a tent, make sure your sleeping bag is rated to keep you alive at 40F or colder, and bring some fleece jammies and sleep socks. Tents, as thin as they are, do give you a little bit of warmth. My friend who slept outside was not doing it on a particularly cold year, as stormy as it was. The coldest I remember feeling was about 50F. Occasionally it can be in the mid to high 30's in the wee small hours (2010 was like that on several nights).

*** 2013 Survival Guide ***"I must've lost it when I was twerking at the trash fence." -- BBadger

Two girls in our camp this past year slept on blow up chairs under our 30 foot monkey hut for almost the entire week (since their tent was jam packed with gear). They each had their own sleeping bag, and they both seemed to have no real issues. One's sinuses had a hell of a time with the dust, but I think that'd happen regardless of where she slept. I'd bring a few dust mask options and maybe a rain fly to string over your hammock to knock down the dusty wind (since dusty wind will still blow through your monkey hut), but otherwise I'd say you'd be fine.

Oh, also, when you're not in your hammock, you might want to detach one side so it doesnt turn into a big sail and flip over (depending on how it's mounted). Also would probably want to pack away/protect your sleeping bag during the day so it isnt completely filled with dust. Bring some plastic bins or duffle bags to store you clothes & stuff and I bet you'll be set.

"just two indecisive cowboys, trying to play a word game." - piehole"Just apply intelligence and discretion and you should be able to get away with just about anything." - Ugly Dougly

doable, but not recommended. Everyone hanging out in my monkey hut in '08 ran into a trailer during the white outs. They kind of looked at me in a crazy when i ran into the dust and disappeared. If you close up the ends really good, it might be OK, but then you just end up trapping all the heat. Honestly, I really don't like monkey huts, but that's a different conversation.

Savannah wrote:You use a hammock as a bed in ordinary life?? . . . Do go on.

In the past 3 years I have gone through a brand new bed, about 3 different air mattresses, and a recliner. Couldn't find anything that didn't hurt my back (recliner wasn't so bad) and got fed up. I had been joking about just getting a hammock for a while and so I did. Its the best i've slept in those 3 years.

I would definitely bring a tent as a plan B and there will always be the car for plan C. The minimum my hammock needs to hang is 10ft so I figured I would set up poles right outside the monkeyhut and and have the part that I sleep in underneath. Make the sides of the hut roll up and the hammock detachable and bam.... I have my daytime chill area. Thanks for the tips guys!

Savannah wrote:You use a hammock as a bed in ordinary life?? . . . Do go on.

In the past 3 years I have gone through a brand new bed, about 3 different air mattresses, and a recliner. Couldn't find anything that didn't hurt my back (recliner wasn't so bad) and got fed up. I had been joking about just getting a hammock for a while and so I did. Its the best i've slept in those 3 years.

I would definitely bring a tent as a plan B and there will always be the car for plan C. The minimum my hammock needs to hang is 10ft so I figured I would set up poles right outside the monkeyhut and and have the part that I sleep in underneath. Make the sides of the hut roll up and the hammock detachable and bam.... I have my daytime chill area. Thanks for the tips guys!

Wow--good luck, then. Since you have plan B and plan C, it's hard to worry about you too much. I hope you bump this thread when you come back, and let us know how it went.

*** 2013 Survival Guide ***"I must've lost it when I was twerking at the trash fence." -- BBadger

gotta reply to this one.... i usually sleep in a hammock when i go to reenacting events ( hand sewn canvas thing made to look like a sailor's hammock in 1720 ) and it is indeed the best sleep i have had.... back issues also...slept in one even when the temps hit below freezing... it was great !!

I built a fancy rack to sleep in my hammock in a Hexayurt. Lots of shelter. Just block one end of your MH with a tarpaulin at night or all day and you should be aight. Like someone else said, make sure you weight it down or unhook one side when you're not in it. Its easy cheesy.

some obscure television show wrote:Hank Scorpio: Uh, hi, Homer. What can I do for you?Homer: Sir, I need to know where I can get some business hammocks.Hank Scorpio: Hammocks? My goodness, what an idea. Why didn't I think of that? Hammocks! Homer, there's four places. There's the Hammock Hut, that's on third.Homer: Uh-huh.Hank Scorpio: There's Hammocks-R-Us, that's on third too. You got Put-Your-Butt-There.Homer: Mm-Hmm.Hank Scorpio: That's on third. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot... Matter of fact, they're all in the same complex; it's the hammock complex on third.Homer: Oh, the hammock district!Hank Scorpio: That's right.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri